


the orange sunset we share together

by rutozens



Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: High School, High School Students NCT Dream, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, tags might change idk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:33:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27538390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rutozens/pseuds/rutozens
Summary: “These two would spend the last minutes of their day together until the orange sunset came over the sky. It was like a slow countdown where they experience a beautiful sight of the orange-like sky before going home.”Renjun realizes his feelings towards his best friend Jeno. However, not wanting to ruin their long built friendship, he keeps it to himself, but how long can he go without saying a word?
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	1. best friend(s)

The subtle cool breeze blows into the empty art studio Renjun is sitting in. He is on a stool in front of a canvas that is partly filled with color. He picks up a brush on the table on his right-hand side and looks down at the different colors sitting on the wooden palette, deciding which would be the best combination of colors to create the color he desired. After a little bit of mixing, he creates a light orange he isn’t quite satisfied with, but he hopes for the best. He drags the brush through the paint mix he just created and brings it up to the canvas. 

A sudden door slides open making a loud bang, shortly followed by a voice screaming his name.

“HUANG RENJUN!!!”

Renjun’s body flinches at the abrupt noises that just occurred, making him drop his brush on the floor and his arm knocking over the paint palette sitting on the table. The paint which was sitting there earlier was all over the floor now. Another mess he has to clean up. He quietly lets out a sigh before turning his body to see Donghyuck walking into the art studio. Chenle quickly follows behind while Jisung is lingering by the door before walking in as well. 

“Injunnie, where were you for cleaning duty today?!” Donghyuck said in a teasing manner. “I had to clean the room by myself with the underclassmen. I had nobody to talk with today about next week’s test we could potentially cheat on.”

“But you were the one who approached me and Jisung during clea-” Chenle was quickly cut off by Donghyuck covering his mouth. “Well, Injunnie?” Chenle quickly pushes his hand off his mouth. 

“What Chenle said was true though! You came up to us to t-” Donghyuck uses his other hand to cover Jisung’s mouth and Jisung’s response is similar to Chenle’s.

Renjun shakes his head at the three of them. “I told you already,” He stops to get up and starts walking over to the cleaning supplies by the sink. “I talked with Mr. Seo about changing my clean up times. So I can work on my final art project.” He grabs a few paper towels and walks back over to the spilled paint on the floor. 

Donghyuck puts his hand on his face. “How could you do this to me Injun? Switching your clean up days without letting me know beforehand?” He let out a much overdramatic cry, which was obviously fake. Renjun stands there not amused unlike the two underclassmen behind him laughing. 

“Again, I said I already told you today. Then again, you weren’t paying much attention. You were too busy bothering Jaemin about the homework you forgot.” Renjun explains before crouching down to start wiping up the paint on the floor.

Donghyuck tries his best to recall the memory of Renjun telling him. He shakes his head. “Nope, I really can’t remember. I needed that assignment done quickly or else my grade would’ve tanked.” He walks over and grabs a laying paper towel sitting by Renjun to help him clean up the mess. “Anyways, I was going to tell you we were planning on going to this new cafe that opened once everyone finished their cleaning for today.”

“Today? Why didn’t you just text the group chat?” Renjun asked.

“All of you would’ve just said no if I texted in the group chat, so it’s easier to convince you all in person.” Donghyuck said as he was wiping the floor. 

Renjun raises an eyebrow at him. Donghyuck wasn’t partially wrong with that theory. “Hm, alright.” He shrugged. “I don’t have much money so I don’t think I can buy anything, but I’ll come with you guys.” He continues on trying his best to wipe off the paint.

“If you can’t pay, ask Jeno to pay for what you want.” Donghyuck suggests. 

Renjun just shrugs, “I don’t know. I don’t like asking people to pay.”

Donghyuck chuckles. “You know it doesn’t matter to him. He’ll do it.” Renjun keeps his eyes on the ground, focusing on wiping up the paint. He knew Donghyuck was right. As long as he asks, Jeno would pay for whatever he asked. 

They finish with wiping the paint off the best they could. Renjun has to explain to his advanced art teacher why there were a bunch of paint stains on the floor now. 

Jisung and Chenle were standing by the stool Renjun sat on. They were both looking at the canvas. “Renjun-hyung,” Jisung starts, “What are you making?”

Renjun brings himself off the crouching position and stands next to the pair. “I’m planning on drawing the sunset I see every time I walk home. It’s going to be for my final project.” He looks at the canvas. A thought grew inside of his mind. He wasn’t very satisfied with how it was looking so far. This is why he starts his art projects early. To try and get over critiquing self throughout the semester whenever he does these projects. 

Jisung nods. “It actually looks pretty cool so far.” Renjun couldn’t tell if the comment was sincere or not. 

Donghyuck suddenly puts his arms around Jisung and Chenle startling them. “Alright, Renjun we’ll meet you later at the gate. I’ll text you once I find Jaemin and or Jeno so we can get going.” He spoke enthusiastically. Jisung and Chenle were basically in a chokehold with their necks in the crook of Hyuck’s arms. “Let’s go, you two! Off to find the others!” He turns them around and brings them out the door. Renjun exhales seeing the chaos leaving the studio. He can hear them yelling as they walk out into the hallway. 

He turns and sits back down on the stool. He stares at the unfinished art piece in front of him, wondering if he should continue with the time he has to spare before Donghyuck finds Jaemin and Jeno or to clean up his station. It wouldn’t take long Hyuck to find them. He goes with the second option. “I have enough time before the end of this semester to complete it,” He whispers his thoughts out loud. 

Renjun starts picking up the brushes on the small side table. He prepares himself to get up from his seat when a sudden pressure slightly pushes down on the top of his head and arms hanging off his shoulders. It makes Renjun’s heart jolt from shock but quickly calms down knowing who it is. “You’re the second person to scare me today Jeno.”

Jeno chuckles at his comment. “Really? Who scared you earlier?” He keeps his chin positioned on the top of Renjun’s head.

“Who do you think?” 

“Hmm. Was it Donghyuck?”

Renjun hums in response, meaning Jeno was correct.

“I kind of figured. I heard him from down the hall yelling at Chenle and Jisung.” Jeno states.

Renjun rolls his eyes. “Why did you bother asking then if you already knew?” Jeno just chuckles and Renjun just rolls his eyes again.

He brings his empty hand up, holding onto one of Jeno’s arms that are still wrapped around him. The warmth around his neck was relaxing to him. He tilts his head to lean against his arm. He feels Jeno put his head on the shoulder where Renjun wasn’t leaning towards. Renjun was enjoying this warmth flowing through his body at this moment. To strangers, this might be considered weird for them to be hugging so affectionately, but they were in a room alone. Renjun didn’t let that thought bother him. 

“Donghyuck was actually looking for you and Jaemin. He wanted us to go to a new cafe that opened after you guys finished cleaning duty.” Renjun explains. 

Jeno lets out a confused hum and lifts his head off of Renjun’s shoulder. “Seriously? Why didn’t he send a text about it.” 

“He said he wanted to convince you all in person.” He says. “I don’t think I’ll be getting anything though since this was such a last-minute plan. I don’t think I have enough money to buy anything.” He adds on. 

Jeno lets out the same confused hum. “I can buy whatever you want for you. I have enough money for both of us.” He said. 

Renjun sighs. “It’s okay. I’m not really that hungry for anything anyway. I was going to wait for dinner when I got home. ” He didn’t like the idea of someone buying food for him. There were always the lingering thoughts of being an annoyance even though he never asked. A guilty feeling to better describe it. 

“Don’t worry about it. Just tell me what you want when we get there and I’ll cover it.” Jeno said. “And if you don’t want anything, I’ll just share something with you.” Renjun could tell he said that with a smile, which makes himself smile at the thought. 

Jeno’s eyes shift towards the canvas in front of them. “Well, what are you making for this year’s project?” He asks. Renjun lifts up his head and brings his attention to the uncompleted art piece. 

“I’m actually planning about making the sunset. You know,” He pauses then moving his head to look up at Jeno. “The one we would always see before we go home every day.” 

Renjun continues to look at Jeno, waiting for his thoughts. He sees that Jeno quickly points on a smile he enjoys seeing. The smile where his eyes turn into crescent moon shapes. He turns his head back to look at the canvas. Renjun lets out a sigh. “It’s still not close to done. Kind of lacking the motivation to continue it right now.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. You still have plenty of time before it’s due right? I can assure you that it’ll come out great.” Jeno reassures him. The words were encouraging, but Renjun wasn’t exactly too sure himself. He still appreciated the effort. “Yeah, I do. I hope.” He whispers the last part of the sentence.

Jeno lets out a sigh and shakes Renjun lightly. “If you ever need help, I can come and help you. Because the only other person who knows what the sunset looks like is me.” He quietly chuckled. Jeno’s hand held onto Renjun’s hand without either of them mentioning it or realizing it. Another thing that seemed normal to the two of them.

All Renjun could do was laugh at him. He knew that Jeno didn’t have the same artistic sense as him. “I’m not sure about the idea of asking you for help, especially if it’s my final project we’re dealing with. Very important for my grade for the class. No offense.” Renjun said followed with a cheeky smile on his face, looking at him for a reaction.

Jeno stares back at him with a straight face and playfully slaps his shoulder, making Renjun flinch a bit. He scoffs, “I take some offense to that.”

The two laugh it off for a few seconds, then Renjun stands up with dirty brushes in his hand. “Let me clean up here and we can wait at the front gate for the rest of them.” He said, walking to the sink. Jeno silently agrees and walks over to the sink to help Renjun clean up.

\---------------

Renjun and Jeno were standing by the gate at the front of the school, talking to each other about their day to pass the time. There were other students leaving school at this time. Some were walking by themselves, some were together laughing with their friends. 

The duo was talking until their heads quickly whipped towards the entrance of the building, hearing familiar voices screaming and yelling at each other. Chenle was screaming at Donghyuck to release him from his armlock, while Jisung and Jaemin were walking alongside the loud pair. Jisung had a slightly worried look on his face while Jaemin was calm. They eventually reach up to Jeno and Renjun. 

This type of bickering and small fights in their friend group was normal for them. It signified how close and comfortable they were with each other. In a sense, it was boys just being boys together.

“Donghyuck,” Renjun sighs. “Let Chenle go now. Everyone is looking over at us...” Donghyuck obeyed and released him. 

Chenle quickly took a step away from him. “Why did you release Jisung and not me?!” He exclaimed.

“Because Jaemin told me to let go of him.” He said while gesturing at him.

“Now that’s unfair.” Chenle scoffs. 

“Anyways,” Jaemin starts. “Where is this new cafe you wanted us to go to?” He asks.

“Ah yes!” Donghyuck claps his hands together. He was obviously excited about this last-minute trip together. He pulls out his phone and goes through his photo gallery to open the screenshot of the address he took. “It’s luckily by the same path that we walked together before we split off. We’ll just have to take a detour to the left at a certain alleyway where the new place is!” He explained. Everyone else in the friend group just stared at him with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. 

“I hope this place will be good,” Chenle spoke. “I am a little hungry.”

“Well, lead the way for us Donghyuck!” Renjun moves to the side to let Donghyuck go in front of him. 

“Let’s go!” He screamed as he started walking out past the school gate. Everyone else followed him out.

\---------------

The friend group was split evenly into pairs. Renjun and Donghyuck at the front, Chenle and Jisung in the middle, and Jeno and Jaemin at the very back. Each pair was talking to each other about whatever came up into their mind to bring into the conversation. Whether it was a test they took that day, the incredibly shitty day they faced from the amount of material they needed to learn, a girl one may be interested in, the list can go on. However at one point during the walk, Jisung and Chenle were picking up stones they found nearby when they were crossing over a bridge hanging above some water. They tried skipping a few rocks but had to stop because Jaemin was scolding them to hurry up because Renjun and Donghyuck were up too far ahead and they were going to lose him. 

At one point during the walk, Renjun was balancing himself on a curb. Donghyuck thought it would be a good idea to tease him and pushed him off of it, which he did. Renjun hit him on the side of his arm because he almost sprained his ankle from the sudden push, which Donghyuck quickly apologized for. 

They finally reached the new cafe Donghyuck was hyping up. It was tucked away in an alleyway where a bunch of small shops were. There were very few people in the cafe beside the friend group. One table had an elderly couple seated, another table occupied by a student from their school which they could tell from his school uniform. However, none of them knew his name, probably because he was in a different grade. 

Everyone was browsing looking through the glass shelf at the different food and desserts they were putting up for purchase. Renjun could hear Jisung and Chenle talking to each other wondering what they wanted to get. He stood in front of the glass and scanned over each item, not necessarily taking interest in anything. But, that ham sandwich on display did look good to him. He must’ve been staring at all the sandwiches for a bit too long, which was enough time for Jeno to sneak up behind him, making him jump for the third time today. “Which sandwich do you want?”

Renjun placed his hand over his heart. Jeno just looked at him dumbfounded. “Scared you again?”

“Yeah,” He said. “It’s okay. I didn’t really want anything. I was just looking.” 

Jeno laughs. “Oh really? Because just now I saw you eyeing the sandwiches just now.” 

Renjun crosses his arms and turns toward him. “Yeah because I was curious with what they were selling, that’s all.” He glances at the food display beside them. He shakes his head and looks back at Jeno. “I really don’t want anything if you’re wondering. I told you I have food at home.” 

Jeno’s face remained doubtful. “I can buy it for you. I have enough to cover it.” His gaze looked slightly worrisome. Renjun’s face started feeling a little warmer as he looked back at Jeno. His stomach had a weird aching feeling. He couldn’t tell if it was hunger at this moment. He was also unsure of how long they were keeping eye contact with each other. Renjun saw everyone else in line to order their food. He could see Chenle had already bought what he wanted. while they were the only two by the display shelves. 

He gently pushes Jeno to turn around. “I told you I’m fine without buying anything I promise.” Renjun said, almost sounding very whiny. Jeno tried to resist, but Renjun kept pushing him towards the cash register.

“Okay, okay. I’ll go.” Jeno let himself be pushed towards the register and went on to order. Renjun watched him walk away, still feeling the warmth on his face and the weird stomach ache to start to fade away. Renjun wasn’t sure what he was feeling. It felt foreign to him.

“Renjun!”

He whipped his head up towards the direction of his name being called. It was coming from Donghyuck, with Jaemin standing next to him with some food and drinks in their hands. They were both looking at him. Renjun shook the previous thoughts he had and walked over to them.

“Renjun you need to try what Jaemin ordered. He’s crazy...” Donghyuck pointed at the dark black coffee that Jaemin was holding in his hand. Renjun was confused with Hyuck’s statement. Jaemin silently hands Renjun his dark coffee drink and Renjun takes a little sip. His face is covered with disgust in the next few seconds.

“Donghyuck is right. You are crazy.” Renjun coughed. “You’re going to be awake after drinking that. Or even get a heart attack…”

Jaemin takes his coffee out of Renjun’s hand. “This is the only way I can drink coffee.” He stops to take a sip. “And I like staying up late to study anyways.”

Donghyuck and Renjun looked at each other then turned back to Jaemin. They obviously had the same thought. Jaemin didn’t care and took another sip of his coffee. Donghyuck then opened the bag he had in his hand and offered him some desserts he bought. Renjun tried refusing but was then forced to take a cookie because Hyuck realized he bought too many.

Meanwhile, Jisung and Chenle were together talking and eating behind them. Jeno approached the group with a bag in his hand and was ready to head out.

They walked out of the cafe, starting out as one group asking each other what they got and saying their opinions about the food. All of them being positive.

Renjun was eating the cookie that Donghyuck offered him, which he enjoyed. Jeno walked beside him and held out a paper-wrapped sandwich for Renjun to grab. Renjun looked at him shocked, unsure if he should actually take it or not.

Jeno stared at him and moved his hand towards Renjun, gesturing him to take it. He silently took it and just looked at it. 

“I’m not sure if it was the one you actually wanted since you really didn’t tell me.” Jeno said, scratching the back of his head.

Renjun didn’t respond. He peeled the sticker off and carefully unwrapped the paper which was covering the sandwich. It was a turkey sandwich that he was interested in getting. He was grateful, but being bought food still made him feel guilty.

“Jeno, I told you-...” Renjun started but was quickly cut off.

“I said I would cover it for you. Don’t worry about a little sandwich you have to pay back.” Jeno said as he was unwrapping the sandwich he bought for himself. “Our friendship is enough for the payment.” He said.

“Our friendship is worth this sandwich?” Renjun questioned, meant for it to just be playful teasing.

Jeno sighed. “Our friendship is more than enough for the payment.” He said in the same manner, putting the emphasis on the word. He looked at Renjun with a smile.

Again with the smile, Renjun enjoyed seeing. He automatically smiles back at Jeno. The warm feeling from earlier came back, but Renjun didn’t question it as much at that moment. He just wanted to dig into the sandwich.

\---------------

It’s come to the part of the walk where Renjun and Jeno would split off from the group since they both lived in the same area. The duo waved their goodbyes to the remaining group before starting their walk together towards the neighborhood. 

Renjun and Jeno would take this walk to talk to each other about their day. However, there was still some daylight out for them to stay with each other. They would always use this walk to go to a nearby playground which was on the way to their homes. This time would always be perfect because the playground would be empty from children occupying the whole space. 

Both of them finish their sandwiches as they finally arrive at the empty playground. They throw away their garbage and immediately head over to the swing set to sit together. 

Renjun kicked his feet a little to get the swing to move a bit. “Hey,” Renjun looked over at Jeno. “Thanks for getting me that sandwich again. You surprisingly got the one I actually wanted.”

Jeno smiled. “Of course. I wasn’t going to go back on my word on buying you something. The sandwich was pretty good.”

Renjun silently agreed. “It’s kind of crazy.” He started.

Jeno leaned his head on the chain of the swing. “What’s crazy?”

“We’re in our final year of high school. You, Donghyuck, Jaemin, and I are going to leave school soon.” Renjun sighed, looking down at his feet still kicking lightly.

“We’re leaving and leaving Jisung and Chenle here huh?” Jeno said followed by a little laugh from the two of them.

“True, but they have each other, which I think is enough for them to last another year.” Renjun chuckled, so did Jeno. 

“Remember when Jisung bought Chenle with him for lunch one day?” Jeno asked. “And it was only about a month since we took him in since he was alone all the time and he already brought a new kid in.”

Renjun immediately nodded. “Yeah. I had to help him with learning Korean and translating until he was fluent enough.” He grinned as he was recalling the old memories. “Luckily Jisung really helped him out with learning.”

“We also weren’t friends at first.” 

Renjun blinked and gasped. “You’re right. We weren’t! Donghyuck was my first friend when I transferred.”

Jeno nodded. “I remember the day you walked into our middle school class. You looked so tiny and your voice sounded so high.” He paused and tilted his head, scanning Renjun’s face and his body. Renjun furrowed his eyebrows together as he was looking at him. “I can say you changed. Not that much in height though.” He grinned.

Renjun stared at him looking unamused. Jeno was laughing at his reaction. “I was just kidding.” He said, making his voice higher, attempting to sound cute. “Not really, but I mean it in a very cute way. You look the same in a good way.”

“To be honest, I don’t really remember you when I first transferred.” Renjun chuckled. 

Jeno looked at him with wide eyes. “Really?”

Renjun nodded. “I truly only remember Donghyuck back in middle school since he talked to me a lot.” He looked at Jeno who had the same expression on his face. He thought it was cute. “But ever since we became friends because Donghyuck and Jaemin became best friends after bonding over a group project, I can say you also grew up over the few years.”

The duo just smiled at each other.

Jeno turned his face away. “I’m glad we have our friends. I’m happy that we have each other. Especially our friendship.” He stated.

Jeno’s face was staring out at what was in front of him, giving Renjun a full view of his side profile. He noticed how mature Jeno looks so far. His sharp jawline and distinct nose bridge, along with his sharp small eyes. He noticed how beautiful Jeno really looked. 

Renjun turned his head in the same direction where Jeno was staring. He looked towards the sun that was coming down behind the houses in the neighborhood. These two would spend the last minutes of their day together until the orange sunset came over the sky. It was like a slow countdown where they experience a beautiful sight of the orange-like sky before going home. 

He turned his head to look at Jeno. He was still staring at the setting sun. The lighting has changed and the orange colors of the sunset made Jeno look even more stunning to him. How lucky he was to see him in that light.

Looking at the sky again, it had turned orange. It was starting to get late. He looked at Jeno continuing to look magnificent in the light without even knowing it himself. He was hesitant to say that it was time for them to head home. One more minute. He looked down at his shoes as he continued kicking slowly on the swing.

He couldn’t tell if a minute actually passed. If he went over a minute or not, but Renjun still spoke those words.

“The sunset. We should head home before it gets too dark.”


	2. weird feelings

One o’clock in the morning. Renjun couldn’t sleep. His mind wanders to those moments where he and Jeno made eye contact, reminiscing the warm feeling he felt during those moments. These actions they had between them weren’t new. These feelings were new. Renjun didn’t understand why he was feeling like this.

The thought of Jeno’s smile made him want to cover his face. The feeling of being engulfed in his arms made him want to be in that same position for longer. Same actions they’ve always done, but something new appeared.

He flips to his side on the bed and looks at the digital alarm clock sitting on the table. Time barely passed. 

He finally closes his eyes to hopefully deal with this dilemma later.

\---------------

A few weeks have passed and Renjun sits in the library by himself to study for some upcoming tests but becomes distracted instead. He taps the eraser part of his pencil on the sketchbook in front of him, practicing some sketches of anything he could think of. He draws over the same line a few times, then quickly erasing some lines, then resuming on with continuing the sketch. Renjun smiles as the sketch of Jeno’s face is coming together.

“Aren’t you supposed to be studying?” 

Renjun jumps to the sudden voice talking by his ear. He takes a second to recover.

Jeno chuckles at him and pats his head. “Sorry to scare you like that again.” His eyes move to Renjun’s sketchbook. “Is that a drawing of me?” His finger points to the drawing that Renjun just sketched.

Renjun immediately feels embarrassed and quickly shuts his sketchbook. “So we’re here to talk about the math assignment right?” He says as he opens up his school notebook. 

Jeno ignores Renjun and grabs his sketchbook. Renjun tries to grab it back but is too slow. He flips to the page where there is a sketch of his face and also scans at the other sketches on the other page. “I knew you were a great artist, but holy shit. That’s basically me on the page.”

Renjun’s face starts to feel warm and his heart skips a beat. “It’s not that good...It’s just a sketch and I just started on it.” He said. 

“I mean it when I say it’s amazing Renjun.” He continues looking at his various sketches. “You would be such an amazing artist if you continued on with art. I think you could be famous.”

Renjun rolls his eyes at him. “No need to exaggerate. My art is only average.” He said as he took the sketchbook out of Jeno’s hands. He turns his attention back to his notebook and starts flipping through the math textbook.”

“Renjun,”

“We’re here to study for math right, so let’s talk about math for now.” Renjun keeps his attention on flipping through the math textbook to the right page.

“Are you ever going to take my compliments that I give you?” Jeno’s tone of voice sounded soft yet serious.

Renjun pauses. His eyes lowered down towards the table. He doesn’t respond to Jeno’s question right away. 

“I mean...I know you have trouble taking compliments and being confident in your work. But it wouldn’t hurt to accept the compliment from time to time.” Jeno said. Renjun keeps his eyes down, unsure of what to say. “Responding like this every time someone says something about your art can be harmful to your mental health and stuff.” 

Renjun brings his eyes and looks at Jeno, their eyes quickly locking. The weird feeling of butterflies comes back into his stomach as they maintain their eye contact. Renjun could see Jeno’s eyes shimmering underneath the lighting. He could also see the amount of worry in his eyes.

He blinks a few times, bringing himself back to reality. “I know you’re worried, but I can assure you I’m fine. It’s probably stress that’s making me feel like shit all the time you know?” Renjun said, shifting his seating position.

“Okay,” Jeno relaxes. “But remember, if you have any problems you need to talk about, I’m always here.” He assures him with a smile.

“Thanks,” Renjun smiles back at him. “The same thing goes for you too. If you need anything, I’m also always here.”

They continue maintaining their eye contact for a few more seconds until Renjun huffs out a breath and looks back down at his notebook. “Now, let’s start studying.”

\---------------

Renjun and Donghyuck walk together to their homeroom classroom for another cleaning day.

“Where is Jaemin? Doesn’t he have cleaning duty today too?” Renjun asks.

“He’s with the botany club today. To prepare for the autumn festival and stuff like that.” Donghyuck explains. “Jisung and Chenle?” He asks. 

“On their cleaning duty in their own homeroom probably.” Renjun quickly responds.

Donghyuck nods then nudges Renjun’s arm. “How about Jeno? Where is he at?”

Renjun raises his eyebrow at Donghyuck from the very random nudge he just did. “He’s practicing for the basketball tournament that the autumn festival, which is kind of stupid. I mean who wants to play basketball when it’s starting to get colder?” Renjun said, almost sounding like nagging. 

Donghyuck chuckles at Renjun’s response. “Very stupid indeed.” Donghyuck repeats.

The two walk into the classroom where there were a few students sitting around and talking to each other, others diligently cleaning the room. They immediately grab cleaning supplies from the bucket sitting on top of a desk and begin cleaning around the room.

Twenty minutes of cleaning have passed. Renjun walks up to the window and starts spraying it with some cleaner. He starts wiping down the spot he just sprayed, his eyes slowly focusing on the people down in the courtyard. He sees several groups of people walking around the courtyard and spots Jaemin in one of them which he assumes was the botany club he was in. 

His eyes continue to scan over the other groups of people. He looks down at the group of people standing on the basketball court. They all looked serious as one person is speaking to all of them. He immediately notices a familiar person standing amongst them. 

Jeno stands there with his hair sweaty and messy from him pushing it back all the time. The sleeves of his shirt rolled up revealing his whole arm. Renjun knew he had a very athletic body, but he could really see it right then. Renjun continues to keep his focus on him through the window. He wanted to admire Jeno without him noticing that he was staring for too long. 

Renjun notices a lot of things about Jeno. How fluffy his hair is. How sharp his jawline is. How small and puppy-like his eyes are. How beautiful his smile was. 

Jeno suddenly turns his head towards the windows on the upper floors and spots Renjun standing there looking at him. Renjun’s eyes widen, completely caught off guard at Jeno catching him. He stands there unsure what to do. Renjun prays that Jeno didn’t actually notice him and coincidentally looked in his direction.

Jeno smiles at him and starts chuckling. He brings up his hand and starts waving at him. 

Renjun forms a smile back at him despite being embarrassed and he waves back. 

Jeno’s eyes crease up more as he sees Renjun wave back, then turns his attention back to the conversation that’s happening with his basketball team he was a part of. 

Renjun continues keeping his eyes on him, the warmth on his face finally fading away. His smile also fades. “What is going on with me?” He sighs quietly to himself. 

“Renjun!”

Renjun whips his head towards the voice calling out his name, being slightly startled. Again with the sudden calling of his name when he is deep within his thoughts. He sees Donghyuck standing a few feet away from him.

“The window isn’t going to clean itself you know?” Donghyuck said walking up to Renjun. He stands next to him. “You’ve been standing in the same exact spot for 10 minutes. What are you looking at?” He starts looking in the same general direction as Renjun was earlier. 

Renjun rolls his eyes at him and starts pushing him to attempt him from looking away. 

“Hey, I see Jaemin and Jeno down there!” Donghyuck points down at them. 

“Just help me clean up the windows!” Renjun yells as he pushes Donghyuck.

\---------------

“You can sound really stupid Chenle…” Jisung sighs at him. “Did you hit your head while cleaning?” He teases.

Chenle rolls his eyes at Jisung. “I’m just saying the Earth is flat to piss you off, but I’m starting to believe in that theory…” He says.

It’s only Chenle, Jisung, Renjun, and Donghyuck together on the walk. They were expecting Jaemin and Jeno to be staying behind at school longer for today. 

Renjun shakes his head as he is overhearing the conversation. “There’s plenty of evidence proving that the Earth isn’t flat.” He butts in.

“Really? Like what?”

“The astronauts that go into space. The photographs of the Earth from space. You can look up a picture of the Earth on Google…” Renjun said.

“Those could be easily photoshopped you know?” Chenle refutes.

Renjun closes his eyes and huffs out a breath. Chenle laughs at his reaction knowing he struck a nerve. Donghyuck pats Renjun’s shoulder although he is enjoying listening to the conversation that’s happening. Jisung is also enjoying listening to the conversation. 

“You’re really bold Chenle. I’m surprised Renjun hasn’t committed a crime yet.” Donghyuck chuckles. “And you’ve been with us the least.” He adds.

Renjun mentally agrees. He’s surprised he hasn’t killed Chenle yet whenever they talk to each other.

“Well, Chenle and I became friends with you guys around the same time. We're technically around the same age in this friend group.” Jisung adds in.

“You were with us for only a month and you suddenly brought in Chenle with you to lunch.” Donghyuck says. 

“Chenle was a new student in my homeroom. There was no one in my class who could speak Chinese, so I thought of the next best thing and it was bringing Chenle with me to meet Renjun and the others.” Jisung explains. 

Jisung rubs the back of his neck. “I’m glad that you guys included me into the group though. I never really had a group of friends like this since I never talked to other kids throughout school.” He says slightly cringing that he said those words out loud.

Renjun, Donghyuck, and Chenle look at each other then back at Jisung with a heartfelt smile at him.

Donghyuck jumps on Jisung and wraps his arms around him, giving him a very affectionate hug. “You’re very cute Jisungie! Even though you became annoying, that's because of Chenle. He’s a bad influence on you.” He cooed, tightening the hug. 

Jisung yells, moving his face away from Donghyuck who is trying to give him a kiss. “Get off of me hyung!” He pleads.

Chenle puts his arm around Donghyuck’s neck, putting him in a chokehold. “I’m not a bad influence!” He shouts but then starts laughing out loud.

Renjun silently watches them dogpile each other as they continue walking. It’s absolute chaos between them all. It definitely became even more chaotic when Jisung and Chenle came along to push Donghyuck’s buttons. However, this atmosphere with his friend group was nothing new to Renjun. 

He smiles at them as they continue to play fighting amongst each other. He wasn’t sure what exactly made him smile. It could be the ridiculousness he was seeing making him want to laugh, the joy from Chenle’s loud laughter, or his friends being there in front of him. 

Regardless, he smiled.

\---------------

After saying goodbye to the rest of the group where they split ways, Renjun walks by himself in the direction of his house.

He pulls out his phone and sees a few notifications pop up. A few email notifications pop up. The majority of them are about spam emails about college. A topic that Renjun tries to avoid talking to anybody about. He swipes his finger over the notification to clear it off the screen. Right then, a message from his mom pops up, asking what he wants to eat for dinner.

Renjun thinks for a bit, then opens the notification. He puts both hands on his phone and starts typing a reply for his mom.

He finishes typing out the message and as he is about to press send, another body presses on top of him with their arms wrapped around his waist. Renjun is taken by surprise and screams as he’s lifted up and spun around a couple of times. He hears familiar laughter.

He returns his feet back onto the ground and is freed from the person’s embrace. Renjun turns around to face the person. “Jeno…”

Jeno stands there still laughing. “Did I scare you again?”

Renjun nods. “Yeah! I thought I was getting kidnapped.” He says and looks down at his phone. Luckily the message wasn’t messed up and Renjun quickly presses the send button and replies to his mom. 

He looks up from his phone and takes a good look at Jeno, noticing details about him. His baggy practice outfit, the obviously exhausted face Jeno held, and the messy hair with dried sweat in it. He subtly shakes his head to avoid looking like he was staring at him. Renjun turns around and starts walking again. Jeno jogs to catch up to him.

“You guys didn’t wait for me and Jaemin?” He asks.

“We thought your practice and Jaemin’s botany club activities were going to take you a while.” Renjun replies.

Jeno looks forward, nodding at the valid answer. “Fair enough, but a text to me and Jaemin would’ve been nice.”

“Sorry.” Renjun says quietly.

“Don’t worry. I was kidding about that,” Jeno says and tilts his head slightly. “Kind of…”

Renjun turns his head to look at Jeno. “Why didn’t wait for Jaemin so you could walk with him?”

There was a small silence before Jeno replied, “He said that he was going to be at school late. I didn’t want to wait for him for that long.”

Renjun puts his eyebrows together. “He’s staying that late? Does he have someone to walk with him?” He asks, sounding worried.

Jeno shrugs. “I’m sure he will have someone from his club with him. If not, he’ll be fine.”

“If you say so.” Renjun murmurs to himself.

Another silence falls between them as they walk. Renjun looks at the ground in front of him, keeping his eyes down on the pavement. The awkward silence was starting to creep up to Renjun. Another new feeling when he’s with Jeno. He doesn’t know if Jeno could feel the awkwardness Renjun was experiencing right now.

Renjun swallows the lump in his throat. “How was basketball practice? Are you excited?”

Jeno turns his head and looks at him. “I don’t want to lie and say that I am.” He scratches the back of his head. “I mean a basketball tournament for the autumn festival should be fun. I don’t see the point of practicing for it.” 

“I see your point, but you’re not that excited because you’re too good at sports.” Renjun chuckles at him.

Jeno rolls his eyes. “I’m really not.”

Renjun shakes his head at him. “Liar.” He whispers. 

Jeno raises his eyebrows. “Hm? What did you say? I couldn’t really hear you.” He playfully hops in front of Renjun and stands there, stopping him from walking. 

Renjun widens his eyes and stops. He bites the inside of his lower lip to prevent himself from laughing out loud. “I didn’t say anything.” He says with a louder voice.

“No, you said something.” Jeno smiles. Renjun just notices how Jeno was coming closer to him. Jeno lowers his face so that it’s just in front of Renjun’s face. 

Renjun eyes widen even larger, looking into Jeno’s eyes. His face flaring up with heat with his heart beating faster. He breaks eye contact and moves his eyes to look elsewhere. “I just said you were a liar.” He states.

Jeno huffs and smiles at him. He moves his hand and gently pats Renjun’s head. “You should’ve seen your face just now.” He laughs and straightens himself up. “I heard you the first time actually.” He turns and starts walking.

Renjun puts his hand on his face, hoping that would prevent his face from turning red. He catches up to Jeno and walks beside him. “You’re a great athlete out of all of us. I can barely run the mile and Donghyuck can’t even do push-ups properly. You’re good enough to join a sports team.” He says. “A lot of people agree and you could benefit from being part of a sports team.”

Jeno nods. “I guess you could say that, but it’s something I’m not looking for. A good hobby, a healthy hobby for sure, but I would rather focus on my studies than join a sports team,” He says and shoves his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. “And I would rather spend those after school practices with my friends.” He tilts his head and beams a smile at Renjun.

Renjun smiles back at him, quickly admiring the smile he just received. How comforting it was to him.

He turns his head forward and notices a furry friend jump in front of him. It also catches Jeno’s attention.

A black cat looks up at Renjun and sits down. He lets out a small meow. Renjun grins and kneels down. He puts his hand down in front of it and lets the creature sniff at it. The cat moves its head underneath Renjun’s hand, signaling that Renjun was allowed to touch.

Renjun gently starts petting the cat’s head.

“Aren’t black cats considered as bad luck?” Jeno asks.

Renjun looks up at Jeno and shoots him a glare.

“What?” Jeno asks confused.

Renjun turns his head to look down at the cat and continues to gently pet it. “They are bad luck if they pass you. This one is friendly.” He explains. “I thought you were a cat person like me.” He teases.

“I am. I’m just asking because of 10 years of bad luck you know?” Jeno shrugs his shoulders.

“If you want bad luck, go walk under a ladder or break a mirror.” Renjun says jokingly.

“Ouch. Didn’t mean to offend you that much.” Jeno frowns.

Renjun rolls his eyes. “Come and pet him.” He offers.

Jeno kneels down beside Renjun. Renjun stops petting to let Jeno pet it. Jeno puts his hand on top of the cat’s head and starts gently petting it. The cat moves around and lays itself down on the ground. Renjun sees Jeno’s smile form as he continues petting it. The cat continues meowing.

“Black cats usually get killed, especially during Halloween.” Renjun sighs. 

Jeno looks at him, shocked. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Renjun nods. “It’s because of the stigma that black cats are bad luck, so they get killed making the person think it’ll prevent it.”

The black cat meows and stands up. Jeno stops his petting, and the duo watches as the black cat walks away from them into a nearby alleyway. They both stand themselves up watching the cat disappear into the shadows.

“Let’s hope that the cat will be safe then, so we can see it again.” Jeno says.

He silently agrees. Renjun hopes to see that cat again one day.

Jeno turns his body to face Renjun. “Um, do you want to come to the park today? I wasn’t going to ask because I saw you were texting your mom probably, I think. I assume that you were already heading home-...”

“I have time before I can go home. I was texting her about dinner.” Renjun says and smiles.

Jeno smiles then quickly grabs Renjun’s wrist and starts running, dragging his best friend behind. Renjun is startled and tries his best to keep up with his feet. 

They both feel the wind rush on their faces as they run down the street together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> had really bad writer's block while writing so this chapter is kind of bad in my opinion, so sorry D:

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is my first fic and it's going to be centered mostly around nct dream in their final year of high school (except for jisung and chenle ofc)
> 
> kudos and comments are greatly appreciated! updates will be random atm because i'm busy with college work around this time
> 
> ps. the song that inspired this story and helps set the mood is called 'orange' by treasure


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